PNP Chief Dela Rosa plays Santa to kids of those killed, caught in Tokhang

A total of 120 children of drug suspects received gifts from Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa, who dressed as Santa Claus at an event on Thursday.

Dela Rosa said giving gifts is the PNP's way of bringing cheer to the lives of children whose parents who either have no income, are in jail, or were killed in anti-illegal drug operations.

"Since most of these children ay namamatayan ng parents, ng father dahil sa ating ongoing war on drugs we want to compensate this loss, their sadness with somehow little feeling of happiness na makita man lang nila na ito’y Pasko," he told reporters after the event.

The kids of Tokhang surrenderees receive gifts and have their picture taken with PNP chief @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/sEgdzOos6Q

— amitalegaspi (@amitalegaspi) December 1, 2016

He added that the children should not suffer the consequences of their parents' sins.

"So gusto ng pulis na bumawi, bumawi man rin sa mga bata. These children are innocent, whatever their parents have done in the past. Ang kasalanan ni Pedro hindi kasalanan ni Jose," he said.

Gifts for kids of Tokhang surrenderees @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/672p7PAQPA

— amitalegaspi (@amitalegaspi) December 1, 2016

The children came from different parts of Metro Manila.

Teresita Macatol, 50, of Malate, Manila, one of those who surrendered under Oplan Tokhang, brought her three-year old granddaughter to the event.

She believes she was given a fresh start in life after she surrendered and now is her chance to take good care of her granddaughter.

"Maasikaso nang maayos ang mga bata para mabigyan sila ng magandang kinabukasan. Makapag-umpisa ng pagbabago," she told GMA News Online.

She said is now part of the livelihood project of Caritas in their area.

Based on PNP data, as of 6 a.m., December 1, a total of 824,595 drug suspects have surrendered, of which 763,224 were users and 61,371 were pushers.

A total of 4,356,861 houses have also been visited by police.

In the 37,346 anti-drug operations conducted, 2,004 drug suspects have been killed and 38,587 have been arrested. —JST, GMA News